A MAN should own no more than three pairs of shoes. Including his football boots. Any more and you are a tart.

That was the robust opinion recently given by a caller to a radio station that reminded me of growing up in the 1950s and 60s. Boys didn't cry, sang rugby songs on coaches and admired a belcher.

And men who wore make-up in the 50s and 60s, like, Quentin Crisp, could expect a beating.

Then came the cultural revolution spearheaded by the need for equality. And about time too. Amid more meaningful changes in the 1970s, musical role models like David Bowie and Marc Bolan sported make-up. Decades on and you would have thought that something as trivial as men wearing make-up would barely register on the awareness scale.

But, despite the present-day popularity of stars like Russell Brand, a bloke putting on Manscara and Guyliner still surprises and makes many of us men uncomfortable.

Why? Is it a reaction to men feeling ill at ease in a more female-friendly world? This week American columnist Kathleen Parker caused a stir with her book called Save the Males, which argues that feminism has neutered men who have been deprived of their noble, protective role in society, adding that they are portrayed in films and telly as dolts, deadbeats and brutes. Hmm.

What does bother me is the implication that men haven't coped with equality. The fact is you can be masculine and caring and gentle. If ex-England cricket captain Michael Vaughan's eyes welled with tears, so what? Real men can cry. And how can it matter if a bloke puts on slap? Masculinity means something deeper than that.

Now where are my football boots? Oh and mine's a pint (belch). Did you see the match on Saturday? Helluva game. (And where did I put that lippy?